The embodiments herein relate generally to watercraft operated by a single user.
Prior to the disclosed invention, balancing oneself on a paddle board was challenging because water moving beneath the paddle board caused the paddle board to move at angles that were difficult for a user to anticipate. The prior art includes WIPO Publication 1990/014987 A1 filed by Nayes.
Nayes teaches a water walking device utilizing a pair of buoyant hulls. The hulls are identically shaped and lack a shape that naturally works with walking, accordingly they are unstable. Nayes solves this problem in two ways: first by installing stabilizing fins on the bottom of each hull and second by having the user insert one's foot into a recessed cavity in each hull to lower the center of gravity and therefore create greater stability.
This creates at least two problems solved by the present invention, first is falling over, if one loses balance on Nayes one is certainly inverted and being inverted with the only buoyant point being one's feet is extraordinarily dangerous when used in deeper water. Further, the stabilizing fins, while perhaps well intentioned are likely to get snagged in vegetation in shallower water. Embodiments of the present invention solve this problem by first, stabilizing the hulls in a more efficient manner which does not require tethering to a user's feet or stabilizing fins.